Journal Article > ResearchAbstract
Australas Psychiatry. 2020 September 10; Volume 28 (Issue 5); DOI:10.1177/1039856220956251
Newman L, OConnor B, Reynolds V, Newhouse G
Australas Psychiatry. 2020 September 10; Volume 28 (Issue 5); DOI:10.1177/1039856220956251
Objectives: Between 2013 and 2019, an estimated 200 children seeking asylum in Australia were detained on the island of Nauru. In 2018, 15 of these children developed the rare and life-threatening pervasive refusal syndrome (PRS). This paper describes the PRS case cluster, the complexities faced by clinicians managing these cases, and the lessons that can be learned from this outbreak.
Conclusions: The emergence of PRS on Nauru highlighted the risks of long-term detention of children in settings that are unable to meet their physical and psycho-social needs. The case cluster also underscored (a) the difficulties faced by doctors working in conditions where their medical and legal obligations may be in direct conflict, and (b) the role of clinicians in patient advocacy.
Conclusions: The emergence of PRS on Nauru highlighted the risks of long-term detention of children in settings that are unable to meet their physical and psycho-social needs. The case cluster also underscored (a) the difficulties faced by doctors working in conditions where their medical and legal obligations may be in direct conflict, and (b) the role of clinicians in patient advocacy.
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
NOT FOUND. 2019 August 5; Volume 43 (Issue 121); 626-635.; DOI:10.1590/0103-1104201912126
Schmid PC
NOT FOUND. 2019 August 5; Volume 43 (Issue 121); 626-635.; DOI:10.1590/0103-1104201912126
The experience report refers to the author’s work, for six months, as a psychiatrist for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders - MSF) in a refugee detention center in Nauru, an island country in Oceania. The report provides descriptions of the field work and theoretical reflections. The author discusses the issue of suicide and the specificity of such issue for the group of refugees and asylum seekers attended, as well as the discovery of a new clinical diagnosis called resignation syndrome. It’s also sought to reflect on the role of mental health professionals in dealing with deprivation of liberty and discusses ethical challenges experienced in the field, regarding Australia’s refugee policy, its economic importance to Nauru and the impact on the refugee population; obstacles encountered until MSF team was expelled by the local government on October 5th, 2018.